I got my new fins this week. They’re rad. So, I took them to the Coral Casino’s pool for a little test drive. 50 meters underwater is no thing for these fins. Easiest underwater lengths I’ve done. What I ended up getting was C4 81 VGRs. The Italians were in no rush to ship them. It took about 9 weeks, during which time the model I originally ordered was discontinued. But I won’t complain – they’re awesome. I did a fair amount of research before committing to these fins. If you’re in the market, you should peep my notes.Here’s Bridget making the fins look good:

Because someone told me Tijiguas “has the best visibility in town”, I dove there yesterday. And while that same person purported visibility like “35 feet” at times, it looked like everywhere else in town yesterday. Maybe like 2 feet better visibility. That translates to 3 feet total. I dove at depths between 20 and 30 feet with Elhanan and the word I will use to describe it is ‘murky’. Let me say, if you live in Hawai’i, DO NOT MOVE. It doesn’t get any better.

Micah and I got in the UCSB long course pool Sunday for some dynamic apnea. Not tons of noteworthy stuff was done except 50m no-breathers with the long fins. I did a ton of those, kicking on the surface to slow down my heart while staying warm between underwater lengths. Slow lengths with breathing is way better than sitting around to catch my breath while getting cold.

Friday I decided to hit the UCSB pool in the evening for some freediving work. Long course 50m lengths with the long fins proved too much on the 2:30, of which maybe 1 length in 30 minutes was no breath. So, I slowed it down to 3:00 – 4:00 minute rest. Then I did a few no breath, not super comfortably, and left. That much rest makes me cold. Probably some mellow lengths on the surface during rest intervals is a good idea.

I went swimming with Micah and Bridget today. It was, of course, rad. Got a late start, 1:00 PM, due in part to a late night, and it’s Sunday. If you don’t like chicks smoking you in the pool, don’t take 10 years off and don’t swim with Bridget. She’s fast. I did, however, swim a mile today. That was a goal. And I swam long course, the 50m UCSB pool. 100s long course kicked my ass. I was struggling through the 10 x 100, STRU-GLED. Then Micah and I did some breath hold work in the 17ft dive tank. To my pleasant surprise I worked my feeble lungs up to 65 second static holds. Micah had a couple 2 minute dives. On what was maybe his first real attempt at static apnea this is awesome.Here’s the numbers:

warm up

100 free

10 x 100 @ 3:00 free

First 5 were hard, real hard. Breathing was labored, real labored. I was coming in between 1:40 and 1:50.

Second 5 I used fins, shorty swim fins that is. These were fun and I think the extra speed is good training for form. I concentrated on stretching out my pull, smoothing out my streamline.

100 breast

Got cramps in both quads. Had to stop halfway back.

4 x 100 dolphin kick drills

Today is for you, Bob. Though not undeniably heterosexual this is clearly an improvement.

“When freedivers dive deep they activate a set of physiological reflexes that act as the first line of defense against hypoxia. Collectively termed either the diving response or mammalian diving reflex (MDR), the mechanism controls the shift of blood to the brain and heart, functioning in tandem as an important oxygen-conserving mechanism, not only in freedivers, but also in whales, penguins and seals (Figure 1). In fact, this amazing physiological phenomenon was first observed in deep diving mammals as early as the 1900’s, but until as recently as the 1950’s it was thought that humans did not possess the reflex.” – Erik Seedhouse

“For an equivalent change in depth the risk of barotrauma is greatest near the surface, a fact explained by Boyle’s law. A breath-holding free diver rising from 33 feet to the surface experiences a change in ambient pressure from two to one atmospheres. If the lungs fully expand within the chest cavity the lung volume will double. By contrast, a 33-foot rise from 99 to 66 feet depth (i.e., from 4 to 3 atmospheres) would maximally increase a free diver’s lung volume only 33 percent, posing less risk of a barotrauma.” – Erik Seedhouse

Blue Water HuntersnokaoiMagazine.com – June 7, 2008“I watch him descend headfirst into the blue, his long black fins gently waving, graceful as an ulua. His body drops straight down, impossibly deep. I can’t believe he doesn’t have a tank. I start counting, 1, 2, 3, 4… I get to 60 and stop counting. He’s still down.”